Posted on 02/11/2007 7:53:42 AM PST by Froufrou
A TV advertisement opposing TXU Corp.'s plan to build 11 new coal plants in Texas begins airing Wednesday in the Waco market, and will air next week in Dallas.
The ad campaign, titled "Profits and Pollution," are being paid for by Environmental Defense, a nonprofit environmental group that is suing the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality over the permit applications process.
The ads are asking viewers to contact their state legislators and ask them to slow down TXU's fast-tracked coal plan. The fast-tracking plan could cut down the regulatory approval process for a new plant to six months. It previously could take 18 months or more to approve a permit.
"TXU's TV ads are full of fear and fiction," said Environmental Defense regional director Jim Marston, in a statement Wednesday. "Our ad sticks to the facts, and the fact of the matter is that TXU's dirty coal plants will make a ring of fire around McLennan County and spew new pollution up to Dallas and down to Austin."
Colin Rowan, a spokesman for Environmental Defense's Austin office, said the ads would run on several stations in Dallas, and the general buy in Dallas would be a little smaller because of the expense.
Rowan said the ads wouldn't exhaust the $400,000 Environmental Defense has budgeted for its various advertising efforts throughout the year.
"TXU's got a bottomless pit of PR money and they've been spending millions of dollars, even before this things became publicly contested," Rowan said. "Now they're just dumping a lot more money into ads that are specific to these power plants and it was time for us to just do what we can to compete. We can't compete with them dollar-for-dollar. But it's certainly a lot cheaper to sell the truth."
TXU spokesman Tom Kleckner called the ads a "misinformation campaign."
"The fact is, Texas has a pressing problem," Kleckner said. "We need reliable, affordable and cleaner power, and we will need it very soon. TXU has a balanced plan that provides needed power, $1.7 billion in lower wholesale prices and state-of-the-art power plants (that are ) 80 percent cleaner than the average U.S. coal plant."
Kleckner added that every delay in the permitting process keeps the older plants online, harming prices and air quality and bringing Texans closer to a power shortfall.
"Rather than offering solutions to address Texas' looming shortfall of reliable electricity supply, ED offers slick tv ads advocating continued delay and denial," Kleckner added. "By lobbying policymakers to postpone action, ED threatens Texas with higher prices, job loss and dirtier air."
Dallas-based TXU (NYSE: TXU) launched its own statewide advertising campaign in January, Kleckner said. The adds are running in Dallas, Houston, Austin and Waco. In some markets, the ads are running on both TV and in newspapers.
Kleckner did not disclose the cost of the ad campaign, but said it would continue for the next few months.
But that might mean lots of money wouldn't be given to the Friends of Politicians in those different locales... No politician would agree to that.
Prolly so. [/grip]
What's wrong with it? Ask the survivors who've lost coal plant workers.
They should ...in China!
That's where the real polluters are!
If we don't watch it we will go the way of CA to its energy crsis. We will have lots of green projects that make us feel good instead of the power plants that we need.
True, standardized designs are simpler, but may lead to large systems failure if a flaw is found. A far better approach is to require PBMR for new designs designs. PBMR have many good features, they are self limiting, so don't go critical, and they won't work for producing bomb material.
Power plants are usually of little news interest.
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus
Not to mention taxes, jobs, supplies etc. The Environmentalists need to stop, research and study such plants before they scream the sky is falling....also look at their pension plans to see how this could and perhaps is benefiting them.
That's the problem! Journalists are supposed to report the news, not sensationalize it.
That's a very plausible statement. What I don't like is the secretiveness. Facts would be nice. That it's a boring topic doesn't make it one to be swept under the rug.
Wouldn't the need for more power (cleaner, more modern coal replacing older, dirtier plants as well) indicate America is a "developing nation" as well?
Growth and demand in China and Russia, India is ok, but growth in America is NOT?
Why?
Still, I'd rather see nuclear plants built whenever possible. Tat does lead to uranium supply problems however, since like il, we'd have to import those too.
As for that electric car thing, there are lot of "conspiracy theory" stories out there. The truth of the matter is, there has never been an efficient one built. (And no, the evil government didn't come take people's inventions away, especially anything Tom Bearden "invented")
Mark Steyn: Don't Ruin Economy Over Tiny Temp Rise
An experiment that hints we are wrong on climate change
Global alarming: Don't think, just act
The Green Fervour (Global Warming book review)
Global warming is harming New Hampshire right now (Dingbat alert)
Cosmic Rays Blamed For Global Warming
Scenes from the Climate Inquisition (The chilling effect of the global warming consensus
January world's hottest on record: Japan
Satellite Data Vital To UN Climate Findings
White House Issues Rare Letter Defending Record On Warming
From Greenhouse To Icehouse: New Clues On Ancient Climate Shift
LOL, imho, this thread isn't about "global warming", but hey, whatever.
I'm sure the people opposing these plants have CO2 emissions as one of their talking points.
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